


honesty has room for secrets but not for lies

by gotham_ruaidh



Series: Gotham Writes for Imagine Claire & Jamie [28]
Category: Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 01:17:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5987266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gotham_ruaidh/pseuds/gotham_ruaidh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if on their wedding night Jamie tells Claire the real reason he agreed to mary her? Would this change the dynamics to drastically?</p>
            </blockquote>





	honesty has room for secrets but not for lies

**Author's Note:**

> This was a prompt sent in to [Imagine Claire & Jamie](http://imagineclaireandjamie.tumblr.com/post/139118548245/what-if-on-their-wedding-night-jamie-tells-claire) on tumblr. I'm posting my Imagine prompts here on AO3 for easier reading and in case there's anyone here who might not be on tumblr. Do feel free to check out the blog and send in prompts if you have more ideas for our favorite pair!

"I know we pledged honesty to each other – but I wasna being fully honest wi’ ye earlier, when ye asked why I’d agreed to marry you.”

He swallowed. She was silent, almost as if she was asking him to continue.

“It’s true – I wished - _wish_ \- to protect ye. To the last drop of my blood. Wi’ every bone in my body. From anyone – anything – but especially _that_ man. But ye ken that already.”

He shifted uncomfortably, careful not to break the gentle connection between them. She was still – so still, he thought she could be dead, was he not able to watch the gentle rise and fall of her chest, those pearls so bonny around her swan-like neck.

“But there were two other reasons. One you probably know already – I want you. More than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life. And now that – now that I’ve _had_ you – it’s like the hunger is even worse. I canna stop. I willa be able to stop.” Slowly, gently, he trailed one finger across the slope of her collarbone, marveling at her translucent yet luminous skin.

Her breath hitched, and he wanted nothing more than to just stop his nonsense talk and just lose himself in her – but he owed her more than that. Now that he’d opened the door, he needed to walk through it.

“And the last reason – the last reason, _mo nighean donn_ , is because I love you. I have loved you since that first night at Leoch. I have burned for you all this time. I have dreamed of you by my side, and the life we’ll make together. I want to have you with me in everything that I do, in every decision I make. I want to support you, and be the man – the _person_ \- you turn to in all things. I want to give you the life you _should_ have, away from my uncles and these foul, stinking men and all this nonsense about the king.”

 A tear trailed down his cheek as his thumb caressed the tender skin around Claire’s eyes, even softer in sleep.

“And I am a coward, because I dinna have the strength to tell ye while ye wake. Because I know that once ye _do_ find that out – if ye _ever_ find it out – I couldna watch your face fall in dismay. Because you have a kind heart – ye’d feel bad for me. But I dinna want your pity. I dinna want just yer body. I want everything you are – and in return, I’ll give ye everything that I am. Ye deserve better – so much better than I can ever give you. Than I can ever be for you.”

He slung his leg around her hip, drawing his pelvis flush with hers. His limbs felt her skin slowly rising to consciousness, languid, struggling against the sands of sleep.

“But, God help me, I canna stay away.”

He kissed her. Her body wakened. Drawing from an instinct he didn’t know he had, he rolled his hips against hers. Her lips smiled, and he swallowed her sigh, his name a prayer on her lips.


End file.
